Construction continues along busy Summerville road

Ronnie Jones has lived in the area since he was able to obtain his driver's license. But it's the commute along Bacon's Bridge Road in Summerville that keeps him idling for up to 20 minutes at a time.

It's that bumper-to-bumper traffic that spurred a plan to add three more lanes, as well as a bike and pedestrian lane to a 3.8 mile stretch of the road.

Ground was broken on the project in October and is "on-schedule" for a September 2015 completion date, according to project manager Donnie Dukes of Davis & Floyd.

One side effect of the current congestion is the illegal shortcut many drivers take from Bacon's Bridge Road to Dorchester Road, through Tyvola Road. A sign does warn motorists of a $100 possible fine, if caught cutting through during specific hours each day.

Dave Cordless' daughter's family lives in that neighborhood.

"The problem is that they don't slow down," Corless said. "They're just taking advantage of a chance to just go faster. They go through here almost every 10 or 15 minutes."

Corless says he must pay extra attention to his four grandchildren while they are playing outside.

"That's really why we would feel like we would have to have an adult eyeballing them at all times," he says. "There are just people that aren't looking out for children."

The next milestone in construction will be the activation of traffic lights at Highway 61 and Bacon's Bridge Road in July.